Middlebury  A man with Crown Point ties is the newest member of the sales team at Foster Motors in Middlebury, Vt.

Joe Bodette, who owned Frenchman’s Restaurant in Crown Point along with his wife Cindy, now works for the Middlebury auto dealership.

The Bodettes owned Frenchman’s nearly nine years before selling it this past summer.

“I have an automotive background,” Bodette said. “Long before we went into the restaurant business I worked in the automotive industry. I’ve had a long relationship with Foster Motors and they’ve been great to me. When the opportunity to work here arose I jumped.”

It was a difficult decision to leave the Crown Point restaurant, he said.

“My wife and I decided we needed more balance in our lives,” Bodette said. “The restaurant was a 24-7 thing. Even when you weren’t physically at the restaurant you were thinking about it.

“It was time to make a change,” he added. “With our grandchildren getting older, it was time to move on.”

The local restaurant business had become more difficult the past few years as well.

“When the bridge (the closure of the Lake Champlain Bridge in 2009) and the economy both collapsed at the same time things became much more difficult,” Bodette said. “We never really recovered from the bridge closure.”

Cindy Bodette now works for Mountain Lake Services in Westport.

The couple still owns Crown Point Barbecue, but is trying to sell it, too.

“We finished the season, fulfilled all our commitments,” Bodette said of the barbecue business. “Now we’d like to sell that.”

Bodette is hopeful he will see many of his New York area friends visit Foster Motors, which is located at 2149 Route 7 South in Middlebury.

“I’d be happy to have them come visit,” he said. “I’d love to have them stop by and see what we have to offer.”